Applicator for applying a single—or multicomponent fluid and method for spraying such a fluid

ABSTRACT

The applicator ( 10 ) for depositing a one- or multi-component fluid, particularly a tissue adhesive, comprises a housing ( 12 ) arranged for attachment of at least one supply container ( 16 ) for the fluid. The supply container ( 16 ) comprises a discharge opening ( 28 ) and a piston ( 20 ) for sliding displacement in the direction of said discharge opening ( 28 ). A tensioning lever ( 58 ) is pivotally supported on the housing ( 12 ), which, when manually operated, causes movement of a spring tensioning element ( 54 ) by which a spring ( 46 ) for storage of mechanical energy can be tensioned. Coupled to the spring tensioning element ( 54 ) is a drive element ( 66 ) being adapted to be driven, by the stored mechanical energy of said spring ( 46 ), in increments and which is arranged to move a press-on element ( 84 ) acting on said piston ( 20 ) for displacing it in the direction of said discharge opening ( 28 ) of said supply container ( 16 ).

This application is the national phase under 35 U.S.C. §371 of prior PCTInternational Application No. PCT/EP98/01381 which has an Internationalfiling date of Mar. 10, 1998 which designated the United States ofAmerica.

The invention relates to an applicator for the application of a single-or multicomponent fluid, particularly of a (single- or multicomponent)tissue glue, and a method for the application of such a fluid byspraying.

In surgery, increased use is made of tissue glues for the most variouspurposes. Mostly, these tissue adhesives are multicomponent tissueadhesives and normally two-component tissue adhesives which are appliedby use of special applicators. Partially, in addition to the tissueglue, also a (medical) gas, e.g. O₂, is ejected for atomizing thedischarge tissue glued so that the latter can be applied by spraying.

The production costs for tissue glue are not negligible, making itdesirable to perform a dosed application of the tissue glue by use of anapplicator.

In doing so, the quantity of tissue glue ejected per actuation of theapplicator should be the same each time. For reasons of hygiene, itappears reasonable to design the applicator as a disposable article sothat the applicator will be provided for single use only.

It is an object of the invention to provide an applicator for applying asingle- or multicomponent fluid, particularly at a tissue glue, whichcan be manufactured at low cost and is particularly designed as adisposable article and which allows the application of an exactly dosed,always constant quantity of fluid with each use.

According to the invention, for solving the above object, there isproposed an applicator comprising

a housing,

at least one supply container for said fluid, adapted to be mounted tosaid housing, said supply container comprising a discharge opening andhaving arranged therein a piston for sliding displacement in thedirection of said discharge opening,

an energy storage means comprising a hand-operated tensioning lever,pivotally arranged on said housing, which, when moved from a restposition into a pulling position, causes movement of a spring tensioningelement by which a spring for storage of mechanical energy, having oneend fixed on said housing, can be transferred from a rest position intoa tensioned position, and

a moving means for said piston of said supply container, said movingmeans being coupled to said energy storage means and comprising a driveelement coupled to the other end of said spring, said drive elementbeing adapted to be driven, by the stored mechanical energy of saidspring during the transfer from the tensioned position into the restposition of said spring, in increments so as to move a press-on elementacting on said piston for displacing it in the direction of saiddischarge opening of said supply container.

The applicator according to the invention is provided with an energystorage means which is suited for storing mechanical energy which willthen be used for dispensing a predetermined quantity of fluid. Theenergy storage means comprises a spring as a mechanical store, whichspring can take a rest position and a tensioned position. By means of atensioning lever pivotally supported particularly on a handle member ofthe housing of the applicator, the spring can be transferred from itsrest position to its tensioned position. In the process, the manuallyinitiated movement of the tensioning lever from the rest position into apulling position is translated into a movement for transferring thespring from its rest position to its tensioned position. For thispurpose, it is suitably provided that a spring tensioning element isarranged between the tensioning lever and the spring for transferringthe spring into the tensioned position upon actuation of the tensioninglever.

The energy storage means has a moving means coupled thereto whichcomprises a movable press-on element acting on a piston of the storagecontainer accommodating the fluid, for thus slidingly displacing thepiston in the direction of the discharge opening of the storagecontainer. Through the moving means, the press-on element is moved inincrements in the moving direction, while the energy storage meanstransmitting its stored energy to the drive element each time when thespring moves back from its tensioned position to its rest position.

The invention provides a simple, mechanically operating mechanismallowing the discharge of fluids in doses and at an exact dosage by useof an applicator. For realizing the invention, no electric appliancesand the like are required; instead, the applicator operates in a purelymechanical manner, while the energy respectively required for thedischarge of fluid is supplied by a spring which is tensioned by hand.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, it is provided that themoving means comprises a spindle, secured against axial displacement andsupported for rotation on the housing, with the spindle comprising anouter thread in threaded engagement with the inner thread of athrough-hole of the press-on element. During a transfer of the springfrom its tensioned position into the rest position, the thus initiatedmovement of the drive element is translated into a rotation of thespindle. This rotation in turn leads to a linear movement of thepress-on element which is secured against being rotated along with thespindle and is guided on the housing for linear displacement. The extendof the rotational movement of the spindle caused by each relaxing of thespring and resulting in a step-wise rotation of the spring, istranslated into an advance moving step of the press-on element. Theextent of the advance step of the press-on element depends, amongothers, on the pitch of the thread of the spindle and the extend of therotation of the spindle per relaxation of the spring.

Preferably, the pivoting movement of the tensioning lever is translatedinto a rotational movement of the spring tensioning element which forthis purpose is supported on the housing for rotation about a rotationalaxis. The spring, having one end attached to the housing, has its otherend eccentrically coupled to the spring tensioning element. In the restposition of the spring, the spring tensioning element is in a stableposition which hereunder will be referred to as the first dead-centerposition. When pressing the tensioning lever by hand so that the latteris moved into its pulling position, the spring tensioning elementmechanically coupled to the tensioning lever is rotated by slightly morethan 180° so that the spring tensioning element is moved slightly beyondits metastabile position displaced by 180° relative to the firstdead-center position (hereunder referred to as the second dead-centerposition). Both dead-center positions are defined in that the couplingpoint between the spring and the spring tensioning element are locatedon a common line extending in the direction of the length of the springwhere also the point of the attachment of the spring on the housing islocated. By the movement of the spring tensioning element beyond themetastabile dead-center position, the spring tensioning element underthe influence of the spring in its tensioning position, performs arotation by nearly 180°, and notably automatically so that the springwill then be again in its rest position wherein its spring bias actingon the spring tensioning element is lower than in its tensionedposition. This second rotation of the spring tensioning element,extending over nearly 180°, is used to move the drive element forstep-wise advancement of the press-on element.

Suitably, the mechanical coupling of the tensioning lever to the springtensioning element is provided with a freewheeling function so that thetensioning lever can remain pressed when the spring tensioning elementis automatically moved due to the spring force. Such a freewheelingfunction is suitably realized by a toothing on the spring element whichextends slightly beyond 180°. This toothing meshes with a toothing ofthe tensioning lever or with a toothed bar moved by the lever along alinear path, with the tooth on both sides being in mutual engagement forthe period of the rotational movement induced by the actuation of thetensioning lever, and then being disengaged.

As already mentioned above, the drive element and the spring tensioningelement can be arranged as one element which fulfills both the functionof the spring tensioning and the function of driving the press-onelement. This is preferably realized in that the spring tensioningelement and drive element is provided with a first toothing for meshingwith a toothing of the spring tensioning lever, and with a secondtoothing provided to engage the toothing of an end-side pinion arrangedon the spindle. While the first toothing of the spring tensioning/driveelement cooperates with the spring tensioning element when the latter ismanually moved from its rest position into the pulling position, thesecond toothing meshes with the end-side pinion of the spindle withinthe second half of the rotation of the spring tensioning/drive element.The positioning of this toothing and the number of teeth thereofdetermine the extent of the rotational movement by which the spindlemoves per relaxation of the spring. Also this provides for a setting ofthe fluid quantity discharged per actuation of the tensioning leverwhich is obtained through the design.

If the drive element and the spring tensioning element are not formed asone part, both of them are suitably arranged on a common rotational axisso that the rotation of the spring tensioning element is translated intoa rotation of the drive element which in turn is used for the advancemovement of the press-on element.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, it is further providedthat, simultaneously with the discharge of fluid, also a (medical) gasstreams out of a gas discharge opening arranged in the immediatevicinity of the fluid discharge opening of the applicator so that theissued gas will atomize the fluid. In this regard, it is of advantage ifthe gas discharge period during which the gas issues from the gasdischarge opening, begins prior to the fluid discharge period. Thus, thegas discharge is already underway when the fluid is discharged from thefluid discharge opening. In this manner, a formation of drops at thebeginning of the fluid discharge is prevented.

Further, it is reasonable to take the same measure also around the endof the deposition process or the spray interval. In other words, gasshould also be discharged from the gas discharge opening for a period,although a short one, after termination of the discharge of fluid fromthe gas discharge opening so that fluid drop possibly still attached tothe fluid discharge opening can be deposited in sprayed form.

Within the present invention, the above described timing of gasdischarge and fluid discharge in an applicator represents an independentthought which can be put to practice also in applicators of aconfiguration different from the one described above. Thus, thisinventive thought is independently placed under protection irrespectiveof the applicator disclosed within the frame of the invention.

For a controlled discharge of gas in the above described applicator, theapplicator is preferably provided with a gas discharge means for thecontrolled discharging of gas within a gas discharge period correlatingwith the spring-driven step-wise movement of the drive element or theactuating of the tensioning lever. Here, the gas discharge period beginsearlier than the fluid discharge period during which the press-onelement acting on the piston is moved. Further, it is suitable if thegas discharge period ends later than the fluid discharge period.

Preferably, the gas discharge means can be controlled by a controlelement which can be moved along in increments together with the driveelement. Thus, the gas discharge means is controlled by the movement ofthe spring tensioning element and the drive element, respectively,notably indirectly through the control element.

The gas discharge means suitably is a valve arranged in a gas conduitand biased into its closing position. The valve is provided with anactuating element which is acted on by the control element for movingthe valve from its closed position to its opened position. Once thecontrol element does not act anymore on the actuating element, the valvewill automatically assume its closed position.

The gas conduit having the valve arranged therein is arranged to connecta gas source for pressurized gas to a gas discharge opening. Thus, theconduit portion of the gas conduit between the gas source and the valvewill always have pressurized gas therein. The further movement of thispressurized gas will thus be controlled by the valve.

Preferably, the gas supply system of the inventive applicator,comprising the gas discharge means and the gas conduit, is provided witha time-delayed switch-off characteristic, i.e. from the moment that thecontrol element does not act anymore on the actuating element of thevalve, gas will nonetheless by discharged from the gas discharge openingfor a certain time. On the one hand, this can be realized in that thegas conduit between the valve and the gas discharge opening is providedwith a gas storage chamber for the storage of gas. With each opening ofthe valve, the storage chamber is first filled with gas before gas willbe discharged. This leads to a delayed discharge of gas, which, however,can be accounted for by a corresponding shifting of the point of time ofthe switch-on of the valve, triggered by the movement of the controlelement, in relation to the discharge of fluid. The advantage of thestorage of pressurized gas in the storage chamber between the valve andthe gas discharge opening resides in the fact that gas is dischargedfrom the gas discharge opening for a certain period after the switch-offof the valve until the storage chamber has been emptied or its interiorpressure is equal to the ambient pressure of the applicator.

A second alternative for terminating the gas discharge with a time delayresides in that the valve is moved in a time-delayed manner controlledby the pressure of the gas into its closed position when the controlelement does not act anymore on the actuating element of the valve.

With a valve biased into its closed position, the coupling of thecontrol element and the actuating element can then be realized in asimple constructional manner by providing the control element as a camto be driven by rotation and acting on the actuating element which isrealized as a plunger, to thus move the plunger along a linear pathagainst the bias of the valve. The cam is suitably rotated by the springtensioning element and respectively the drive element of the movingmeans of the applicator.

An embodiment of the invention will be described in greater detailhereunder with reference to the Figures.

FIG. 1 is a lateral view of the applicator according to a firstembodiment of the invention with the housing shown in vertical section,

FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the applicator along the planeII—II in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the interior of the applicatoralong the plane III—III in FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a partial view of the mechanics of the applicator along theplane IV—IV in FIG. 3,

FIGS. 5 to 7 illustrate several intermediate positions of the individualelements of the mechanics of the applicator, each time seencorresponding to FIG. 4,

FIG. 8 is a lateral view of an applicator according to a secondembodiment of the invention, with the housing shown in vertical section,comprising a valve to be switched into its closed position at a timedelay, and

FIGS. 9 to 12 are sectional views of the valve of the applicatoraccording to FIG. 8 in the closed and opened positions and anintermediate position from which the valve is switched into the closedposition at a time delay.

FIG. 1 is a lateral view of an applicator 10 for discharge of thetwo-component tissue glue in sprayed form. Applicator 10 comprises ahousing 12 with a handle 14. According to FIG. 2, the housingaccommodates two supply containers in the form of two cylindricalsyringe bodies 16 connected to each other through a clamping connectionelement 18 and held on connection element 18. Each syringe bodycomprises a piston 20 provided with a stopper 22 and a piston rod 24extending therefrom. The stoppers 22 closely abut the inner wall of thesupply containers 16 and are arranged for sliding displacement withinthe supply containers 16. Opposite the piston rods 24, the supplycontainers 16 have their front ends provided with respective dischargeconnecting pieces 28. Mounted on each of the two discharge connectingpieces 28 is a connection head member 30 having to receiving openings 32for the discharge connecting pieces 28. Opposite the receiving openings32, the connection head member 30 has a multi-lumen catheter 34 arrangedthereon, guided out of housing 12 of applicator 10 via an opening 35.Starting at the receiving openings 32 of connection head member 30, thelatter has two mutually separated channels 36 extending therethroughwhich enter into two lumina of multi-lumen catheter 34 which terminatein discharge openings 34 a,34 b on the free end of catheter 34 (FIG. 2).On the side facing towards the supply containers 16, a gas-conductinghose 38 enters into the connection head member 30. A gas-conductingchannel 40 extends through the connection head from the entering site ofhose 38 to catheter 34 and is flush with a further lumen of catheter 34which ends in a gas discharge opening 34 c of catheter 34.

For discharge of tissue glue from applicator 10, a pressure is exertedagainst the two pistons in a manner still to be described so that thetissue glue components contained in the syringe bodies 16 are dischargedfrom the discharge openings 34 a,34 b via connection head member 30 andmulti-lumen catheter 34. At the same time, a medical gas (O₂) isdischarged from the third lumen of catheter 34 via gas discharge opening34 c for thus atomizing and mixing the tissue glue components so thatthe tissue glue can be sprayed in mixed form.

As evident particularly from FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, applicator 10 comprises ahand-actuated, purely mechanically operating mechanism by which thepistons 20 can be moved in increments in the direction of the syringebodies 16. This mechanism comprises a mechanical energy storage means 42and a moving means 44 for step-wise advancement of the pistons 20.Energy storage means 42 comprises a helical tensioning spring 46 havingone end 48 attached to a pin 50 arranged within the handle 14 of housing12. The other end 52 of spring 46 is connected to a connecting arm 53which is eccentrically supported on a disk-shaped spring tensioningelement 54 arranged on an axis 56 supported for rotation on housing 12.Rotatably supported on pin 50 is one end of a substantially U-shapedtensioning lever 58. By means of a leg spring 59 extending around pin 50and supported both on lever 58 and on handle 14, lever 58 is biased intothe starting or rest position shown in FIG. 1. Tensioning lever 58partially projects from an opening 60 of housing 12 out of handle 14.The angle leg 62 of tensioning lever 58 facing away from pin 50 isprovided with a toothing 64 arranged on a slightly curved line with thepin 50 as a center. This toothing 64 meshes with a pinion 67 whichtogether with the spring tensioning element 54 is arranged for rotationon axis 56. Pinion 66 comprises a toothing 68 extending over slightlymore than 180° along the circumference of pinion 60. On the remainingpart of the circumference, pinion 66 does not comprise any toothing orteeth.

Pinion 66 is provided with a further toothing 70 which likewise does notextend fully along the whole circumference of pinion 66 bit insteadcomprises just a few teeth. This toothing 70 meshes with a conical gear72 attached to one end of spindle 74. Spindle 74, while secured againstaxial displacement, is supported for rotation in housing 12 asillustrated at 76. Spindle 74 further comprises an outer thread 78 andin this region extends through a through-hole 82 having an inner thread80 and being arranged in a press-on element 84 which is guided on guideprojections 86 of housing 12 and which, upon rotation of the spindle 74,is moved along a linear path along the guide projections 86. Thepress-on element 84 abuts a connection element 88 connecting the ends ofthe piston rods 24, and via this connection element 88, acts on the twopistons 20 when the spindle 74 is driven by pinion 66.

As best seen in FIG. 3, the axis 56 is provided with a cam 90 (see therepresentation of the cam 90 in FIGS. 1 and 4) acting on the plunger 92to advance it linearly and transverse to the extension of the axis 56.The plunger 92 is the actuating member of a valve 94 controlling the gassupply for the discharge of a medicinal gas and being arranged in thegas conduit 38. The gas conduit 38 extends from the outlet 96 of thevalve 94 to the connector head 30. The inlet 98 of the valve 94 has agas conduit 100 connected thereto which is connected to a (external) gassupply indicated at 102. The valve is self-closing, i.e. it is biasedtowards its closed position. Moving the plunger 92 in the direction ofthe valve 94, the latter is caused to assume its open position. Withinthe gas conduit 38 leading from the valve 94 to the connector headmember 30, a gas reservoir 104 is provided which will be described inmore detail below in connection with the description of the functions ofthe applicator 10.

The following is a description of the operation of the applicator 10with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7. FIGS. 1 and 4 are partial sideelevational views of the applicator 10 in the rest position prior to themanual operation of the tensioning lever 58. In this rest position, thespring tensioning element 54 is in its lower dead center position inwhich the coupling point between the spring-loaded connecting arm 53 andthe spring tensioning element 54 is on the side of the spring tensioningelement 54 that, with regard to its center, faces the pin 50. Byoperating the tensioning lever 58, i.e. by moving the tensioning lever58 into the handle member 14, the toothing 64 rotates the pinion 66 and,thereby, the spring tensioning element 54 coupled therewith. Thisrotation of the spring tensioning element 54 caused by the tensioninglever 58 extends over slightly more than 180° (starting from therotational position of the spring tensioning element 54 illustrated inFIG. 4) so that the coupling point between the spring-loaded connectingarm 53 and the spring tensioning element 54 has passed slightly beyondits upper dead center position. Upon reaching the upper dead centerposition (indicated at 106 bin FIG. 5), the spring 46 has the maximumtension and, thus, its maximum stored energy. Upon arriving at thesituation illustrated in FIG. 5, I.e. with the tensioning lever 58 movedinto the handle member 14 to the maximum, the toothing of the tensioninglever 58 is disengaged from the toothing 68 of the pinion 66. Due to thespring 46 contracting, the pinion 66 may move freely until thetensioning element 54 again takes its lower dead center positionillustrated in FIG. 4.

During this rotation of the pinion 66 caused by the relaxing spring, theother toothing 70 engages the conical gear 72 of the spindle 72 so thatthe same is rotated by an amount defined by the number of teeth in thetoothing 70 (s. FIG. 6). As a consequence, the press-on element 84 isadvanced linearly by a certain amount towards the syringe body 16. This,in turn, causes an amount of two-component tissue glue to be dischargedthat is defined by the amount of movement of the press-on element 84 andthe sectional areas of the syringe bodies 16.

The above actions are repeated each time the tensioning lever 58 isactuated so that it is guaranteed that always one and the same definedamount of tissue glue is discharged every time the tensioning lever isactuated.

Besides rotating the spindle 74, the rotation of the pinion 66 alsoactuates the valve 94. This is effected by the cam 90 arranged on therotational axis 56 together with the pinion 66 and operating the plunger92. When the valve 92 is opened, pressurized gas flows into the gasconduit 38 and first fills the storage chamber 104. That means that thedischarge of the gas from the catheter 34 is delayed in a manner. Therelative rotational position of the cam 90 with respect to the pinion 66is selected such that the valve 94 opens just in time before the filingof the storage chamber 104 is completed and gas flows from the catheter34 before the spindle 74 is turned and the press-on element 84 isadvanced linearly. With the completion of the linear movement of thepress-on element 94, the cam 90 no longer acts upon the plunger 92 sothat the valve 94 reaches its closed position. Since pressurized gas isstill left in the storage chamber 104, the same escapes from thecatheter 34 even after the termination of the tissue glue discharge,whereby an accumulation of tissue glue drops at the catheter 34 isprevented, which drops impair the application of the tissue glue and,possibly, could cause a clogging of the catheter 34 (see the schematicillustration in FIG. 7).

Referring now to FIGS. 8 to 12, a variation of the applicator 10′ willbe described below. In as far as the parts of the applicator 10 of FIGS.1 to 7 correspond to those of the applicator 10′, they have been giventhe same reference numerals in FIG. 8.

The two applicator embodiments 10, 10′ differ in that the applicator 10′comprises a valve 94′ which, for structure-related reasons, moves fromits open position into its closed position with a delay in time. Thevalve 94′ comprises a valve housing 108 in which a piston 112, biasedtowards its closed position by a pull-back spring 110, may be advancedand is guided so as to seal against the valve housing 108. The plunger92 acts on the piston 112 projecting from valve housing 108. The valvehousing 108 is provided with the inlet and outlet openings 96, 98 thatare blocked, respectively, by the piston 112 in the closed positionillustrated in FIGS. 9 and 12 and between which a gas connection isformed in the open position (FIGS. 10 and 11). The piston 112 hasdiametrically opposite edge recesses 114, 116, the edge recess 114facing the outlet opening 98 arranged opposite the inlet opening 96.Both edge recesses 114, 116 are connected through a transverse bore 118in the piston 112.

In the closed position, the piston 112 shuts off the outlet opening 98of the valve housing 108 by positioning the edge recess 116 outside theoutlet opening 98. When the piston 112 is moved into its open position,as illustrated in FIG. 10, the edge recesses 114, 116 will coincide withtheir respective associated inlet and outlet openings 96, 98 so that agas flow communication is established via the transverse bore 118.Simultaneously, a connection is established between the inlet opening 96and a gas storage chamber 120 formed in that portion of the valvehousing 108 where the enlarged end of the piston 112 abutting thepull-back spring 110 is located. Via a shoulder 122 of the valve housing108, this gas storage chamber 120 passes into that portion of the valvehousing 108, in which the portion of the piston 112 having the edgerecesses 114, 116 is located and in which the inlet and outlet openings96, 98 are formed. The gas storage chamber 120 is connected with theenvironment of the valve 94 through a bore 124 in the valve housing 108acting as a throttle.

In the open position, the gas storage chamber 120 is filled with a partof the gas flowing into the valve housing 108 and being discharged viathe outlet opening 98. The leak caused by the bore 124 is negligible. Assoon as the plunger 92 no longer presses on the piston 112, the samemoves back with the plunger 92, driven by the pull-back spring 110. Thepiston 112 shuts the gas storage chamber 120 off against the inlet andoutlet openings 96, 98 by means of a seal ring 126 (see FIG. 11). Now,the gas from the gas storage chamber 120 can only escape through the(throttle) bore 124, causing a delay in the movement of the piston 112to its closed position (FIG. 12). Until the closed position is reached(starting from the situation illustrated in FIG. 11), the inlet andoutlet openings 96, 98 are interconnected through the transverse bore118 so that gas keeps flowing through the valve 94′.

Thus, the structure of FIGS. 9 to 12 provides a valve with a delayedswitching-off, wherein the delay in time is exclusively caused by thegas flow to be switched on and off by the valve. Therefore, noadditional control lines or control media are required.

What is claimed is:
 1. An applicator for depositing a one- ormulti-component fluid, said applicator comprising a housing (12), atleast one supply container (16) for said fluid, adapted to be mounted tosaid housing (12), said supply container (16) comprising a dischargeopening (28) and having arranged therein a piston (20) for slidingdisplacement in the direction of said discharge opening (28). an energystorage means (42) comprising a hand-operated tensioning lever (58),pivotally arranged on said housing (12), which, when moved from a restposition into a pulling position, causes movement of a spring tensioningelement (54) by which a spring (46) for storage of mechanical energy,having one end (48) fixed on said housing (12), can be transferred froma rest position into a tensioned position, and a moving means (44) forthe piston (20) of said supply container (16), said moving means (44)being coupled to said energy storage means (42) and comprising a driveelement (66) coupled to the other end (52) of said spring (46), saiddrive element (66) being adapted to be driven, by the stored mechanicalenergy of said spring (46) during the transfer from the tensionedposition into the rest position of said spring (46), in increments so asto move a press-on element (84) acting on said piston (20) fordisplacing it in the direction of said discharge opening (28) of saidsupply container (16).
 2. The applicator according to claim 1,characterized in that said moving means (44) comprises a spindle (74),secured against axial displacement and supported for rotation on saidhousing (12), which spindle (74) comprises a thread (78) being inthreaded engagement with said press-on element (84), said press-onelement (84) being guided for linear displacement on said housing (12)while being secured against rotation along with said spindle (74), andthat the stored energy of said spring (46) can be transformed by saiddrive element (66) into an incremental rotational movement of saidspindle (74).
 3. The applicator according to claim 1, characterized inthat said spring tensioning element (54) is supported on said housing(12) for rotation about a rotational axis (56) and is eccentricallycoupled to said spring (46), and that, upon actuation of said tensioninglever (58), said spring tensioning element (54) can be rotated from afirst dead-center position in which said spring (46) takes a restposition wherein it is less tensioned than in its tensioned position, upto slightly beyond a second dead-center position, rotated by about 180°relatively to said first dead-center position, in which said spring (46)is in its tensioned position and from which said spring tensioningelement (54) can be automatically rotated onwards into said firstdead-center position due to the mechanical energy stored in said spring(46).
 4. The applicator according to claim 3, characterized in that saidspring tensioning element (54) and/or said drive element (66) comprisesa toothing (68), extending slightly beyond 180°, for meshing with atoothing (64) of said tensioning lever (58), both of said toothings (64,68) being in engagement with each other for rotating said springtensioning element (54) from said first dead-center position up toslightly beyond said engagement during the subsequent automatic rotationof said spring tensioning element (54) back into said first dead-centerposition.
 5. The applicator according to claim 3, characterized in thatsaid drive element (66) and said spring tensioning element (54) arearranged on a common rotational axis (56).
 6. The applicator accordingto claim 3, characterized in that said drive element (66) comprises atoothing (70) for meshing with a toothing (72) of said spindle (74). 7.The applicator according to claim 6, characterized in that the amount ofsaid increments of the rotation of said spindle (74) can be set by thenumber and arrangement of the teeth of said toothing (70,72) of saiddrive element (66) and/or of said spindle (74).
 8. The applicatoraccording to claim 1, characterized in that said drive element (66) andsaid spring tensioning element (54) are formed integrally.
 9. Theapplicator according to claim 1, characterized in that a gas dischargemeans (94;941) is provided for the discharge of gas within agas-discharge time period correlated with the spring-driven incrementalmovement of said drive element (66) or the actuation of said tensioninglever (58), said gas discharge time period starting earlier and endinglater than a fluid-discharge time period during which said press-onelement (84) acting on said piston (20) is moving.
 10. The applicatoraccording to claim 9, characterized in that said gas discharge means(94;941) can be driven by a control element (90) which is movable bysaid spring tensioning element (54) and/or said drive element (66). 11.The applicator according to claim 10, characterized in that said controlelement (90) is a cam member (90) rotatably driven by said drive element(66) and/or said spring tensioning element (54) and cooperating with theactuating element (92) of said valve, said actuating element (92) beingshaped as a plunger.
 12. The applicator according to claim 9,characterized in that said gas discharge means (94; 94′) is a valvebiased into its closed position and comprising an actuating element (92)which is acted on by said control element (90) during its movementcaused by said drive element (66) and/or said spring tensioning element(54) so as to move said valve from its closed position into its openedposition.
 13. The applicator according to claim 12, characterized inthat said valve is arranged in a gas conduit (38,100) guidingpressurized gas, said gas conduit (38,100) connecting a gas source (102)to a gas discharge opening (catheter 34).
 14. The applicator accordingto claim 13, characterized in that a storage chamber (104) for thestorage of gas is arranged in said gas conduit (38,100) between saidvalve and said gas discharge opening (catheter 34), the gas contained insaid storage chamber (104) still flowing out of said gas dischargeopening (catheter 34) for a controlled time period after the closing ofsaid valve.
 15. The applicator according to claim 13, characterized inthat said valve is configured in a manner allowing it to be moved intothe closed position with a time delay while controlled by the pressureof said gas.
 16. The applicator of claim 1, wherein said applicator is atissue adhesive applicator which further comprises tissue adhesive. 17.An applicator for depositing a one- or multicomponent fluid, saidapplicator comprising (A) a housing (123), (B) at least one supplycontainer (16) for said fluid, adapted to be mounted to said housing(12), said supply container (16) comprising a discharge opening (28) andhaving arranged therein a piston (20) for sliding displacement in thedirection of said discharge opening (28), (C) spring (42) comprising ahand-operated tensioning lever (58), pivotally arranged on said housing(12), which, when moved from a rest position into a pulling position,causes movement of a spring tensioning element (54) by which a spring(46) for storage of mechanical energy, having one end (48) fixed on saidhousing (12), can be transferred from a rest position into a tensionedposition, and (D) a spindle (44) for the piston (20) of said supplycontainer (16), said spindle (44) being coupled to (C) and comprising adrive element (66)coupled to the other end (52) of said spring (46),said drive element (66) being adapted to be driven, by the storedmechanical energy of said spring (46) during the transfer from thetensioned position into the rest position of said spring (46), inincrements so as to move a press-on element (84) acting on said piston(20) for displacing it in the direction of said discharge opening (28)of said supply container (16).
 18. The applicator of claim 17, whereinsaid applicator is a tissue adhesive applicator which further comprisestissue adhesive.